NORTHAMPTON — The Northampton courthouse at 15 Gothic St. was evacuated briefly Tuesday afternoon after a suspicious backpack prompted court officers to pull a building alarm and notify authorities.

Around 2 p.m., as the alarm sounded, lawyers, defendants, plaintiffs, reporters and court employees filed from the building onto Gothic Street, and waited in the shade of the police station parking garage across the street.

Ten minutes later, after Northampton Fire Department officials gave the all-clear, the crowd filed back in and court proceedings picked up where they had left off.

The backpack belonged to a man conducting utility work in the area, court officers said. The man, who declined to give his name, said he was working for DigSafe. The backpack was full of wires, cables, and electrical testing equipment.

"He just left the backpack leaning against the building," said a court staffer, who did not wish to be identified. "There's a bag full of wires, and the guy was nowhere to be found. In this day and age, what are you supposed to do?"

The man with the backpack said it's a mistake he'll never make again.

The building houses both Northampton District Court and Hampshire County Superior Court.